WORCESTER 
The owners of the Central Building at 332 Main St. have applied for a demolition delay waiver that would allow them to tear down the historic 87-year-old downtown landmark.

According to its application submitted last week to the Worcester Historical Commission, 332 Main Street Associates, controlled by members of the Krock family, is applying for the demolition delay waiver so it can completely demolish the building, explaining that the vacant seven-story building is no longer economically viable to maintain for office and retail use.

“Due to high vacancy rates in retail and office space, it has become an economic hardship to continue to maintain and heat the building,” the application states.

Kathryn Krock, property manager for the building, also cited a 112 percent jump in the property's assessed value from last year to this year as a factor. The property's tax bill was about $48,000 in 2011, but jumped to about $86,000 this year, she said, and that was after the owners successfully appealed the city assessor's office to reduce the valuation. That pushed the annual cost of taxes, heat, and maintenance on the building to $150,000, she said.

“That's a lot of money,” she said.

The demolition delay is a one-year waiting period that owners of historic properties must observe; it is intended to buy time during which alternative uses or owners can be found. Owners can apply for a waiver, which would be effective from the date the application is submitted.

Gary Brackett, lawyer for the owners of the Central Building, said the owners have requested a January hearing for the delay waiver.

The building's owners applied for the demolition delay last year, but quickly withdrew the application. Ms. Krock said at the time there was the possibility of securing tenancy from Quinsigamond Community College. But that has not come to fruition, and there are not many other large tenants seeking to move downtown, she said.

“Unfortunately for us, it's not a question of getting one small tenant,” Ms. Krock said.

The application for the Central Building demolition delay waiver identifies Janet E. Krock as president of 332 Main Street Associates. Ms. Krock's husband, Barry Krock, is the son of Aaron Krock, founder of Commerce Bank & Trust Co.

The Krock family owns several downtown properties; in 1996, they tore down the 142-year-old Flagg's Building to make way for a parking lot on North Main Street across from the new Worcester Trial Court complex.

Local advocates for the preservation of the Central Building, including Preservation Worcester Executive Director Deborah Packard, fear another parking lot will replace the steel-frame building.

Ms. Packard said there is just too much going on downtown with the proposed Theater District, the continued expansion of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and other projects to let another Main Street building get torn down.

A parking lot is “not a good use of the land and the building will be a loss to the city,” Ms. Packard said. Ms. Packard said she plans on attending the January hearing and she will be vocal about saving the building.

“I know it's an issue because it hasn't been maintained,” Ms. Packard said. “It's also very sad when someone takes a building and takes the life out of it and then says it's too expensive to do anything with.”

Ms. Krock said she can't comment on exactly what would replace the building.

“I don't know what we would do with it,” Ms. Krock said. “I do know it's costing us $150,000 a year, and we can't do that anymore.”

Still, Ms. Krock said the owners are open to securing new uses or tenants for the building and will continue to actively market the property.